


Little Yellow Miracle

by cfdorky



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Connie is Yellow Diamonds Daughter, Does this count as momswap?, F/F, F/M, Peridot is the leader for a reason, They can be friends, Watch me butcher the plot, Yellow has issues, hint:Don't touch her baby, three musketeers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2018-12-22 09:29:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11964573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cfdorky/pseuds/cfdorky
Summary: When Yellow Diamond discovers that Rose Quartz has created a hybrid Gem to fight against Homeworld she gives up her physical form to create a being to counter Rose's. Unfortunately children don't turn out the way parents want them to. Connie sure didn't.





	1. Prologue

Hi….. Enjoy. 

 

LITTLE YELLOW MIRACLE  
____________________________________________________________  
Prologue  
____________________________________________________________  
Yellow Diamond had been utterly consumed by hatred, any gem with eyes could see that, but no gem could see this better than her pearl. Her pearl new better than any other gem in her court why her Diamond was enraged. Rose Quartz. 

More specifically, what the former revolutionary was up to on Earth. Currently, the rebel leader was partaking in a human mating ritual called “dating”. It's not that the activity itself really mattered to her Diamond. No. What angered Yellow Diamond was Rose Quartz's continued existence. She was angered by the fact that she had been out voted in by her sisters and was forbidden from engaging in any earthly affairs.

She didn't know how her sisters could be so naive. They both wanted nothing more than to forget the pain and humiliation that came with the colonization of that garbage planet. But she wanted to finish what they had started, instead of leaving that traitorous defect to her own devices.

Her Diamond tried and tried to sway her sisters, but they adamantly refused to involve themselves with Earth.

"Not this again, Yellow."

"Yellow, we've been through this."

The more her Diamond was ignored, the more obsessed she became. Soon, there wasn't a moment that wasn't spent trying to get the jump on Rose. 

Despite her best efforts, her Diamond could never find a good enough reason for her sisters to let her act.

But what angered Yellow Diamond the most was the fact that Rose Quartz seemed none the wiser. Of course that was the point; it wouldn't do if the one you were spying on KNEW they were being spied on. Still, it was like the nail in the coffin for her Diamond. 

Knowing that the gem that had shattered her sister and stolen her colony had all, but forgot about Homeworld and her past transgressions, was slowly driving the monarch mad.

"She should have been shattered and her shards tossed into the nearest star! Instead we just about gave her a PLANET!"

Was one of many things the monarch would gripe about whenever new information about the rebel came about.

Of course her pearl never gave her thoughts on the matter, only listened. 

She knew that her Diamond was convinced that Rose Quartz was still planning something. Yellow Diamond was not content with letting Rose Quartz waste away on Earth like her sisters were.   
But the others had voted, and unless she had concrete proof that Rose Quartz was up to no good, she could do nothing but sulk.

And her pearl would, as always, stand and listen.  
____________________________________________________________  
She knew Rose Quartz would act sooner or later. The former soldier need only make a single mistake and Yellow Diamond would have all the proof she needed to apprehend the defect.

But... for nearly five millennia, the Gem rebel's activities were... tame. Not nonexistent . But tame. 

She had thought she would finally get her chance two thousand years ago, when she had discovered that the rebel leader was trying to rehabilitate the gems that had been corrupted by the Diamonds song. She tried to reason with White and Blue. Warning them that if she were successful, she would be able to bring back her entire army. She had hope that even the possibility of another war would be enough for her sister to let her act, but it was not.

*************************************************************************************

"She's cunning, but she is also weak! If we act now we can put an end to all of this." She had told them.

"All of this," White had chided in her cold calculated voice,"is already over Yellow. Please, try to forget all of this. The cluster will fix everything "

"But Rose Qua-" Yellow tried. But Blue had had enough.

"Rose Quartz, exists in exile." She spat. "And it is impossible to reverse the damage done by our song. Leave the rest to the cluster."

"But she is weak!" Yellow screamed. 

"AND THE LAST TIME WE UNDERESTIMATED HER PINK WAS SHATTERED!"

Blue's outburst was enough to quell Yellow's rage, she could never stand to see Blue cry. No being could.

Pulling Blue into a rare embrace, White told Yellow firmly,"We will not be taking any action against Rose Quartz. The cluster will emerge and correct our mistakes."

To that, Yellow scoffed. White's gaze softened at this and she said,"Please Yellow, trust me I understand why this hurts you, but you have to let this die, or your rage will consume you. We wouldn't want you making any daft decisions."

"You two are the ones being daft."

"Yellow." White Diamond warned. But Yellow disregarded her warning.

"What if it doesn't work?"

"It will!" Blue sobbed,"It must."

"And IF it doesn't?"Yellow continued to push much to Whites ire. 

"Then we will end it ourselves.”White answered darkly/

*************************************************************************************

That conversation was still fresh in Yellow's mind as were all the others. And try as she might, she could not let the matter 'die'.

She just needed something concrete. Something that was a guarantee that Rose Quartz was on the offensive. Or planning an offensive. Or doing anything! 

All the pink gem did all day was travel around the earth or lounge around with the newest human whelp she found oh so interesting.

Honestly! How was she supposed to get leverage on the stupid pink clod if she never did anything.

She just needed something. Anything! Anything that might help her in her quest for revenge.

So when she had heard from one of her Peridots that the rebel leader was going to reproduce she jumped at the opportunity.

She had her pearl call her sisters immediately.

They were almost always apart. White spent every waking moment tending to her court on Homeworld. 

Blue's time was spent either mourning Pink's death or maintaining her legacy.

Yellow Diamond herself had hunkered down just past Jupiter. She needed to be close to Earth, just in case Rose Quartz tried anything. She knew that the galaxy warp on Earth had been deactivated. So if the rebel leader wanted to leave the earth, she would need to do so by means of space.

Since they were so far apart, for their meeting usual meeting place, a gathering hall in Pink Diamonds human zoo, she used the private Diamond communication line instead of having her pearl schedule a meeting.

The first of her sisters faces to show up on the diamond themed holoscreen was Blue's.

"Yellow? You called?"she said in a slightly surprised voice. Upon seeing her sister’s face it took all of her willpower not roll her eyes. Even a pearl could see that she had been crying.

"Blue... how are you feeling." Even with news as urgent as hers, Yellow could help but ask how her sister was feeling.

"I feeling fine Yellow." A blatant lie but one that let Yellow know not to pry,"Now why have you called?"

"Yes, Yellow," White Diamond asked having finally answered the call,"What is so important?"

Yellow paused before finally speaking,"It’s about Rose Quartz."

"Stars, Yellow not this again." White sighed

"Yellow, plea-"Blue started. 

"No! This is serious. She is trying to raise another army!"

"How could she possibly do that without a functioning Kindergarten."White Diamond asked.

"She is using the human reproductive process!" Yellow explained frantically.

Seeing the doubt on the faces of her sisters she continued,"The process would surely take years. But eventually they will have enough gems to resurrect her army and then they will come for Homeworld I'm sure of it!" 

The other matriarchs were silent.

"She must have realized that there is no way to rehabilitate the gems corrupted by our song. She probably thinks she is clever, having found a way around that little obstacle, but the clod has no clue that we've been watching her every move! Now that we know, we MUST act, before it's too late!" 

At this point, she was rambling and pacing around her throne, unaware of Blue's increasingly worried face and White's darkening expression. 

After a full minute of listening to Yellow obsess over the rebel leader, White had finally reached her limit.

"Yellow, ENOUGH!"She yelled stopping Yellow in her tracks.

"White wh-"

"Enough. About Rose Quartz. About the EARTH. I am sick of you letting this control you."

"It is not-"Yellow started, but White cut her off again.

"You've had your ship stationed in the earth's solar system for the past 1000 years!!!!"

"That doesn't mean I am letting this control me."

"Yellow, you have watched Rose Quartz for over five-thousand years", Blue stated, "This has turned into an obsession, Yellow."

"I am NOT obsessed with Rose Quartz. I'm just not as naive as the two of you!"

"Yellow, I refuse to keep indulging you with this ridiculous obsession. The cluster will emerge soon. Stay AWAY from Earth!" And with that White's video feed cut out.

"White! Ugh. How can she be so ignorant?" Yellow sighed turning to her other sister.

"Yellow... I must agree," Blue started in a soft, condescending tone, "You need to let this go..."

"Blue, she is planning something I swear!"

"No. No she is not. She is rotting away on a planet that is going to be destroyed. Soon, that rock will be wiped from our star maps and we can forget it ever existed."

"You said it yourself, Blue, we can't underestimate her! She could survive the planet's destruction!"

"Yellow you sound ridicul-" Blue was interrupted by one a member of her court, a Holly Blue Agate.

"Oh dear..." She said before turning back to Yellow,"I'm sorry Yellow, but I have to go now. I will see you at the next meeting."

"Wait! Blue, what abo-"

"And as for Rose Quartz, my thoughts on the matter are final. Please, Yellow, at least try to put this behind you," She said frantically, “And... take care of yourself sister. Goodbye."

And with that her sister hung up. 

For a moment Yellow was silent. She raised a hand to her face. Then she slammed her fist down cracking the left arm of her throne. She heard a small yelp from the foot of the throne, that reminded her that her pearl was in the room.

Just then a Peridot rushed into the room,"My Diamond!" She screamed as she came to a clumsy stop and did sloppy rendition of the Homeworld salute.

"WHAT!" Yellow screamed as she stood. She was in a foul mood after having been ignored by her sisters AGAIN.

"Oh...my Diamond. I-I just came to give you more information about Rose Quartz...."

"Spit it out!"

"R-r-right her of-offspring will be half human..."

"Half human...You’re sure?"

"Affirmative. I heard the Renegade Pearl telling the defective Amethyst."

Yellow's face scrunched briefly in disgust,"I still find it hard to believe that a PEARL was able to survive the war," that little detail was particularly upsetting considering the fact that her sister was not as lucky. Yellow turned and addressed her Peridot,"Good work."

"Oh. Yes, only the best for my Diamond." The Peridot said in a proud, albeit it flustered tone.

"Yes. Yes.” Yellow replied offhandedly. “You are dismissed."

"Thank you, my Diamond."

Yellow stared absently into space. A half human gem...  
What benefits could a gem hybrid have? 

Yellow's eyes widened as she thought of one possibility . The gem could end up being resistant to gem technology. Then another. If they had a carbon based body like a human then they could potentially be incorruptible. Then more. Fusion. New abilities. Unparalleled power! The gem could be virtually unstoppable!

Of course, at the time Yellow wasn't in the best of mindsets. And she never stopped to think of what the negative side effects of a human gem hybrid would be. Not that it mattered of course.

No, what mattered was that Yellow had to act before it was too late! But she couldn't. Her sisters had forbidden it.... 

She would never be allowed to exact revenge on the cunning traitor. To Yellow this was unacceptable. 

She had to do something!. She needed a plan. A loop hole. One that would allow her to strike Rose Quartz before she could strike back against Homeworld a second time...

And then it hit her. No gem in her court, herself included was allowed to attack the Earth or Rose Quartz... But... a human could....

No ordinary human of course. No this human would need to be strong... this human would need to be loyal... this human would need to be... a hybrid...

And what better a gem hybrid to destroy Rose Quartz, than that of Yellow Diamond herself.

Yellow quickly turned to her pearl,"Alert the crew. Tell them to set a course for Earth"

"Yes, my Diamond. " 

Yellow smirked as she felt her ship turn almost immediately. 

'Soon, Rose Quartz. Soon I will end your pathetic existence'


	2. 13 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the Little Yellow Miracle.

'Soon, Rose Quartz. Soon, I will end your pathetic existence.'

 

LITTLE YELLOW MIRACLE  
___________________________________________________________________________  
13 years later  
___________________________________________________________________________  
"Peridoooot!" a young girl in yellow yelled as she raced up the stairs of her moon base.

'Where is she?'she thought as she poked her head up into her observation deck/bedroom.  
Still no sign of her green guardian. Although, Pearl was there cleaning up.

The girl grinned a mischievous grin and began to sneak up behind Pearl. But just as she was about to pounce on her, the yellow gem giggled. Then she spoke.

"Hello, Connie." 

"Awww. Pearl! How do you always do that?" Connie pouted as she gave the Gem a hug.

"Well, it's easy to hear you coming with those big, Diamond sized feet of yours." Pearl joked lifting Connie into the air holding her at arm's length.

"Pearllll." Connie groaned rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, her cherry red glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose.

This only made Pearl laugh.  
"Ah. Anyway did you need something, my little Diamond?"

"Yes, actually. I've been looking for Peridot? Have you seen her? She didn't go with Jasper down to Earth, did she?" 

"Oh no. You know Jasper prefers to go down to Earth alone," Pearl said setting Connie down,"As for Peri, she's probably tinkering away in her little lab on the ship." She said turning her attention back to the scattered clothing and toys on the floor.

"Great! Thanks Pearl!" Connie said. The she gave the Gem another hug and a quick peck on the cheek before heading towards the stairs.

"Anything for my LITTLE Diamond." The former servant replied teasingly.

"I asked you to stop calling me that." Connie sighed.

"And when it stops being accurate, I will." The gem said instantly.

Rolling her eyes, Connie headed back down the stairs, but not before taking a quick look the Earth.

It was something she did often. Looking at the Earth. She had always wanted to visit. But the gems adamantly refused to let her go to Earth. As disheartening as it was, she couldn't give up. Maybe if she was good and asked enough they would take her into the atmosphere so she could at least get a closer look. 

With that thought in mind, the girl tapped the small diamond insignia at the center of her black and yellow space suit, causing a translucent yellow helmet to form around her yellow tipped obsidian locks. She hopped down the stairs towards the entrance of the base. Just before she left, she stopped on one of the many floors of the base, her makeshift kitchen, where she grabbed a pack of marshmallows and then hopped down the remaining stairs. Once at the bottom, she headed for the door. She touched her hand to panel besides the airlock, opening the Diamond sized door. Then she began the short trek across the moon.

Connie had always liked walking from the base to the ship. The giant hand ship always left her a bit mesmerized. And she got the best view of Earth. She used to jump around like the astronauts she saw on television, but in exchange for being allowed to make the trek from the base to the ship alone, she had to let Peridot and Pearl make adjustments to all of her clothing. Now, not only did everything she wore have a space travel feature, whether it be just a helmet or a full suit, but each of them also helped her body "adjust to the gravity of any planetoid" as Peridot put it.

Unfortunately for Connie the walk only ever lasted so long.

Once she reached the gem ship, Connie touched her glove’s palm to one of the side panels. The effect was almost instant. The panel glowed and Connie was surrounded by the familiar interior of a robonoid pod. The robonoid pod carried her to the palm of the ship before phasing through the center and collapsing in on itself leaving Connie the in the main hall of the hand ship. 

Connie clicked the button on her suit, dispelling her helmet and letting her locks flow free. She then ripped open her pack of marshmallows and popped one in her mouth. She hummed with content as she bit into the freshly frozen marshmallow. She then began to skillfully navigate her way through the ship. When she was really little, she used to be lost all the time and Pearl had to track her down. When Pearl eventually found her, Connie would always rush into her arms with tears in her eyes, and Pearl would sing to her to make her feel better. 

Connie smiled at the memories. She really was helpless when she was younger. Now she could navigate her way through the ship on muscle memory alone.

And so she did, idly munching on marshmallows and humming one of lullabies Pearl would sing to her.

She finished said lullaby just as she reached the door to Peri's Lab. 

She reached forward and pressed her palm to the panel on the side of the door. The door opened. Inside, Connie found an odd, but all too familiar scene.

There was Peridot balanced on her head on top of her desk, all limb enhancers detached save for her left arm which she was using to.... watch TV?

Wait. Connie recognized that theme!

"Peridot!"She gasped,"You're watching Camp Pining Hearts without me!"

"Wha-" was all Peridot managed to get out before she fell over with a thud.

"Uuuugh."

Connie giggled and hopped into Peri's desk chair spinning around,"Serves you right." She set her marshmallows down next to Peri's monitor.

"C-Connie! How long have you been their?"

"How long have YOU been watching our favorite show without me?" Connie said, raising a brow.

"Okay, Okay. I'm sorry," Peri said standing up and switching spots with Connie,"So what's up?"

"Oh nothing much, just coming to ask you a question."

"Really? Okay what is it?" Peridot asked.

"So, I was wondering,"Connie started while tinkering with one of Peridot's Robonoids, "if I could go on the next scouting mission to Earth?" 

"Oh... yeeeeaah. Nope."

"Aw, cmon. You didn't even think about it."

"Sure I did. The last time you asked me."Peridot said in a mocking tone.

"Peridot!"Connie screamed balling up her fist. She hated it when the Gems didn't take this seriously. Peridot KNEW how much she wanted to go to Earth.

"Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that," Peridot apologized holding up her hands in surrender, which looked strange since on of those hands was covered by a limb enhancer,"Look Connie. I know how much you want to go to Earth. And I know you want to visit your dad. But there are things on Earth that you need to be older to deal with."

"You keep saying that, but you won't tell me what it is that I need to be older to understand."

"I know. And I get it it's not fair to keep you in the dark. But I just need you to trust us on this one."

Connie sighed. She could never stay mad at Peridot for long. Or any of the gems really. She just wished she knew why she wasn't allowed to visit Earth. 

"....okay."

"Thank You."

A loud beep came from a holographic screen on Peridots work station. Taking a quick look Peri saw that it was a message from Jasper.

'I got him. I'm headed  
back.'

Peridot's eyes widened behind the visor. Her expression changed when she felt a tug on her limb enhanced arm, reminding her that Connie was still in the room. She quickly deleted the message before turning her attetion back to the hybrid.

"Hey. Jasper says she's gonna be back with pizza soon. Why don't you go wait for her at the base."

".... is it Pineapple pizza?" Connie asked hopefully with a small smile. She had all but forgotten about going to Earth.

"I'm no sapphire, so guess there is only one way to find out." Peri replied while poking Connie in the nose. 

Connie's smile widened. "Okay. You're gonna come eat with us right?"

"Hmm," Peridot said pretending to think,"I don't see why not."

"Awesome. I'll see you in a bit!" Connie said before tapping the button on her suit, activating her helmet and rushing off to wait.

____________________________________________________________

In the main hall of the hand ship a Robonoid pod collapsed in on itself revealing Jasper who was holding a certain unconscious hybrid.

"Jasper." Peridot greeted, limb enhancers attached, as she rounded the corner. Looking at the unconscious boy in Jasper's hand she smiled. "Nice work"

"Meh. It was a piece of cake, Boss. Those Crystal Clods let the little runt run around the city unsupervised all day long. Wasn't hard to catch the kid alone." Jasper said with a grin.

Peridot snickered,"I don't doubt it. Now, let's take him to the prison bay. Pearl should be waiting for us at the special cell by now." Peridot said. 

"Yeah, yeah," Jasper said and began to follow Peri,"When are those clods even gonna get here?"

"Assuming that their fusion is able to discern his whereabouts, the Crystal Gems should be here in approximately 2-3 days."

"I thought they'd get here sooner,"Jasper said with a sigh,"That means we have to take care of the runt until then."

"The fusion works worse under stress."

"Ugh. I still can't believe you think we need THEIR help with the Cluster." 

"We don't." Peridot said sharply."But it will be finished much faster if we DO have their help."

"Why does it matter?"

"Because every moment we spend trying to build a damn containment field that big on own is another moment that Connie loses. And it's not like we can go and ask Homeworld for help."

That threw Jasper for a loop."Jeez, I never thought about it like that.... But still do you really think this is the best idea?"

"What do you mean?" she asked as the two reached the prison bay.

"Well, I mean... what would you do if the Crystal Gems kidnapped CONNIE?"

Peri stopped in front of one of the cells as her thoughts took a dark turn. 

"Exactly. That's what's gonna happen to us... I-I could take him back... they'd never know."

Peridot frowned."No. No, I've studied the Crystal Gems for countless years. They know when to be brutes and when to control themselves. Everything will be fine." Peri said and continued towards the special cell.

"Okay..." Jasper said nervously as she followed once again.

When they reached the special cell, Pearl was waiting for them just like Peridot said. She was reading a book, a hobby she had picked up over the years. They both greeted her.

"Hello, Pearl."

"Sup, Lemonhead."

Pearl smiled at the nickname, but kept reading for a moment before she folded a corner to save her page and greeted the two.

"Hello, Peri." Pearl said with a smile and a nod. Then she smirk and turned to Jasper. 

"Brute." She said with her arms crossed.

Jasper stuck out her tongue, which was promptly caught between a skinny index finger and thumb. 

Jasper blushed and close her mouth with Pearl smirking all the while. Then, she placed a kiss on the orange gems lips before turning her attention to their prisoner.

"So this is him?" She asked.

"He wouldn't be here if he wasn't" Peridot said with a smile.

"Easy," Pearl said, "Now, you sure this new containment field will hold him?"

"Yes. I tinkered with it. Now it gives off a small electric shock."

"Small?" Pearl asked, doubt heavy in her voice.

"Yes small just like we agreed on."

"Good."

"Speaking of small. Connie is probably waiting for us at the base. Oh and Jas I need you to head back to Earth. I told Connie you brought pizza. Make sure it's pineapple."

"Sure thing, Boss."

"Alright, then. Let's not keep her waiting." Pearl said taking the boy from Jasper's arms and placing him down in the cage. Turning, she grabbed Jasper's hand and the two headed off.

Peridot quickly activated the field before hurrying after her friends.  
________________________  
One of the few perks of being treated like a kid was that nobody really notices how much you pay attention.

When Peridot got the message from Jasper about the 'pizza', she didn't even realize that Connie had seen exactly what the message really said.

'I got him. I'm headed back.'

Him? Who was 'him'? Was it her dad? Were the gems bringing him here for a surprise visit? Probably not. They liked to save that for her birthday. Was it a bad guy, like the ones that Jasper caught? These thoughts bounced around in Connie's thoughts as she set the table in the bases 'dining room', which was really just one of the many unused floors that the gems had converted to suit Connie's needs.

Whatever the case was, the gems didn't want her to know about it. Peridot proved that when she lied about the message. That would almost hurt if it didn't happen everyday. Plus, she knew the gems did it to protect her, so it didn't bother her.

But what did bother her, was what they were trying to protect her from. 

"Curiosity killed the cat, Connie." Connie said to herself in a stoic tone

"Yes, but satisfaction brought him back." She countered in her normal voice.

"True. Wise words to live by Connie. Wise words indeed."She replied stoic tone returning. 

Then she started to laugh at how silly she was being. Then sighed.

"Yeaaah. I really need to stop talking to myself."

She finished setting the table before the gems got back. So she decided to tear into her collection of the No Home Boys. She managed to finish one book and get halfway through another before the gems finally got back to the base a couple of hours later.

She heard the sound of the air lock opening and closing, so she raced down to the entrance to greet her guardians, only to be scooped up by one massive orange hand.

"Whoa there, space princess. What's the rush" Jasper asked with a grin lifting Connie by the back of her suit so that they were eye level and holding what Connie assumed was an extra large pineapple pizza from Fish Stew Pizza in her other hand.

‘It better be pineapple’ Connie thought to herself.

"You and I have very, VERY different definitions of 'soon'." Connie said with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I nailed it. XD
> 
> Just so you have a better idea of what Connie looks like in this fic here is the a link to the pictures that inspired this fic.
> 
> http://remmy-o.tumblr.com/post/114256854282/au-where-almost-everything-is-the-same-except
> 
> The only difference is that her Diamond is actually shaped like a Yellow Diamond’s is in the show. And her hair has yellow tips. They look dyed but they are actually natural because Yellow is her mother. This chapter she is wearing the outfit on the right.
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to comment and ask questions because it fuels my existence.
> 
> Next Chapter - Sept 26
> 
> Cya.


	3. Alone in the Universe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s up! Here is chapter 3 of Little Yellow Miracle!!!  
> Sorry for the late upload. May or may not have fallen asleep. My bad.  
> Anyway, you guys as excited as I am?  
> Good!
> 
> Before we start thank you for the COMMENTS! My life blood.  
> You are the nicest internet people ever!
> 
> Anyway, here is the story.

Little Yellow Miracle  
____________________________________________________________  
Alone in the Universe  
____________________________________________________________  
After dinner, the gems left Connie to her own devices as they did every night... day?...Every sixteen hours.

She and Peridot had been lounging in the lab when Connie had asked Peridot why they did that.

"Oh. That's easy. The average human requires a minimum of eight hours to SWS rest be healthy and the best method of inducing this condition is the removal of stimuli i.e. Us."

"English Peri, English. Or Korean. Or Japanese. Something I can consistently understand. I only got about half of that."

"Sorry. Remind me to go over that in your studies Then. Anyway, you do most of your sleeping when we leave right?"

"Yeah?"

"That is why. We leave so you can sleep."

"I know." Connie said. “ Well actually I only knew that you did it so I could sleep. I didn’t know about the keeping me healthy stuff”

"What? Connie, if you already knew the answer, why did you ask?”

Connie snickered and said,"Cause I made a bet with Jasper. She didn’t think I could distract you from your work for more than 30 minutes."

“Connie it hasn’t even been two minutes.”Peridot said smirk.

“I know. But that just means that it is time for plan B.”

“Plan B?”

“Plan B.” Connie said as she walked over to Peri’s vast assortment of robots and drones, little projects that she had been working on that combined Earth technology with that of Homeworld. 

“Connie think about what you're doing…” Peridot warned.

Connie turned to her green guardian with a smug look.

“Jasper promised me the collector's edition set of The Unfamiliar Familiar. You were doomed to this fate the moment I walked in.”

And with that she proceeded to turn on every single one of Peridot’s creations. Chaos ensued. 

That had been when she was eleven. Peridot had chased her about the ship threatening to toss her into space. While Connie was never caught and Jasper begrudgingly held up her end of the bargain, Connie was subjected to an extra two hours of studying by Peridot the next day. Totally worth it.

Connie usually resented being left alone. Time alone with her thoughts. It was scary and lonely and upsetting. But right now it was perfect. 

'Dad wasn't here, so they didn't bring him up for a visit. Maybe a criminal? No... It could be an enemy of the gems...That would explain why they were being so secretive. But why would they bring him here in the first place...' Connie thought while sitting on her bed.

‘And why would they lie about it? I mean if it was some enemy from their past then wouldn’t they atleast warn me? Maybe a corrupted gem… No. They wouldn’t bring a corrupted gem on to the ship again. Not after last time. And if they did they definitely would have told me.’Connie shuddered as she remembered.

Five years ago Peridot had Jasper capture a corrupted gem for study. They had kept it in the prison bay, but sadly they made the mistake of letting a curious eight year old, who had absolutely no clue what a corrupted gem was, run around the ship unsupervised. Connie avoided the hand ship like the plague after that incident. She also developed a mild fear of Jasper after watching her tear her attacker in half. But the burly gem didn’t need to know that.

‘Well if it is none of those then what could it be.?’  
’Connie let out a sigh. She was getting a headache. 

"Ugh. I'm too tired to try and figure this out. Why can’t they be weird and mysterious when I’m actually rested?"

With that thought Connie got ready for bed. She changed out of her yellow space suit and into,a plain yellow nightgown. She brushed her teeth and polished her gem. She paused while looking into the mirror of her bathroom. She stared at the gemstone that separated her from the rest of humanity.

She knew she was the only one of her kind. From what the gems had taught her of Homeworld, gem-human hybrids, just like fusions or defective gems, were not tolerated. No. It was more than that. No gem had even thought a gem-human hybrid possible. Except for her mother.

In the eyes of Gem kind she wasn’t supposed to exist. And the only human who even knew she was alive was her dad. That was unsettling to say the least. Because somehow being part of both worlds made her feel horribly alone.

It was especially upsetting to know that if she did go to Homeworld she would undoubtedly be shattered. It was things like that that made her even more grateful to her guardians. She was glad that they had renounced Homeworld when they started to raise her. She didn't really like the sound of the gem hierarchy. 

Besides, Jasper and Pearl would be miserable without each other. The orange and yellow gems were practically attached at the hip. Peridot had never really had a problem with the way Homeworld worked, but Connie had a sneaking suspicion that Peri preferred this new life to her old one.

Connie could only sigh as she finished polishing her gem, trying not to think of all the disconcerting subtext that came with being a hybrid. Then she walked back to her room and hopped into bed. Just before she got comfortable, she place two fingers to her lips and then those fingers to her gem and said,"Goodnight, Mom."

And then she was out like a light.  
____________________________________________________________

 

When she had woken up, she found herself laying in a sea of pink clouds. Looking down, she saw that she was still wearing her yellow nightgown.

"Where am I?"she asked, her voice echoing off into the distance. A thought occurred to her and she gave herself a pinch on the arm. Nothing.

“Oh, no.”she sighed. She was dreaming. She was lucid dreaming. She never had lucid dreams... not unless she was sharing dreams with someone. 

It was an ability she had discovered when she was eleven. She had accidentally entered into one of Peridot’s dreams. She knew it was real because once she woke up, she asked Jasper if she'd had any interesting dreams lately. Imagine her surprise when Peri described the exact dream she had seen before.

After that it started happening more frequently. At least once every couple weeks. She was used to it now, and she figured it couldn't do much harm. The only people she ever shared dreams with were Peridot and Jasper anyway... Actually, there was one incident that involved one of Pearl's dreams. It had to do with her mother... It was unpleasant to say the least.

She hadn’t told the Gems yet. As guilty as she felt about keeping a secret from them she didn’t want to stress them out more than they already were. They were always stressed those three, for a reason that she couldn’t understand. They thought she didn’t notice. Thought she didn’t hear Peridot and Pearl arguing in Peri’s lab. Thought she didn’t see Jasper make craters out on the moon’s surface before entering the base after a mission. Thought she didn’t know that sometimes after dinner Pearl would sit on top of the ship and cry soundlessly into space. But she did. So she couldn’t stress them out with her problems. Especially when they might as well have been the hybrid equivalent of having nightmares.

Connie started searching. She had decided that the first thing she should do when this kinda thing happened was find the person she was sharing with. 

 

She felt intrusive poking around in her friends heads without them being at least somewhat aware of her presence.

"Jasper? Peridot?" She yelled. When she didn't get a response she got worried. Peri and Jasper tend to always answer when she called out to them in her dreams. It was always easy to find them. 

Then an unsettling thought popped into her head,"Uhh.. Pearl?" She called out into the distance.

As much a she loved Pearl, Connie NEVER wanted to share another dream with her. Once was enough.

Still there was no answer.

'Weird.'Connie thought. 

Suddenly the clouds she stood upon began to swirl.  
They formed walls around her and a weird mass of pink fluff in front of her. Slowly, the clouds began to transform. The cloud walls turned into walls of a prison cell that look exactly like the ones in the hand ship.

The strange mass of clouds became a boy. An unconscious boy.

"Uh oh..."Connie said worried, spinning and looking around at the cell.  
She realized what was happening.

Every once in awhile, her dreams would show her things that were happening in real life. She had figured that out when she had a dream with Jasper in it where the big, orange gem got poofed. It had freaked her out and she had woken up screaming. But what freaked her out even more was the fact that Jasper had come to breakfast that day with a new form. It wasn't that different. She still had her big gaudy cape, but her suit had changed, with her yellow diamond being placed just above where her heart would be instead of directly in the center of her chest. After a couple more dreams like that one, she was able to confirm that they were real and tell the difference between a normal sharing session and a real one. 

She took a step back when the boy started to wake up.

'Oh stars. What do I do?'

Connie thought as she looked for a place to hide. She wasn't scared... Well she was nervous. She had never met anyone else but the gems.

But it seemed the universe wasn't giving her a choice. The boy was fully awake now and standing. He rubbed the back of his head before staring. Right at Connie.

"Um. Uh- Hi. My name is Connie Maheswaren." She blurted out. Okay, maybe she was super nervous.

"Where am I?" The boy responded immediately.

"Oh... uh."Connie stuttered out. She took a look at the cell once more." I think... you might be in the prison bay..."

The boy stared a her with a thoughtful expression.

Then her did something that some would think strange. He walked through her.  
____________________________________________________________  
Connie woke with a start.

"Oh my stars..."Connie exclaimed, shuddering."I hate when that happens."

She really did. Having people walk through you was very unpleasant. It didn't happen often, only a couple of times, but the sensation never failed to make Connie uncomfortable.

But that was not important. 

What was important was her dream. It felt different than when she shared with the gems. Even stranger was the boy. She had never seen him before, or any other human besides her dad for that matter.

Connie jumped out of bed and changed her clothing quickly. She had to get to the ship a fast as possible. Even though it made absolutely no sense for the boy to be on the ship, Connie knew for a fact that her dreams were always accurate. At least when they depicted real events, that is.

She would have ran straight from her room to the ship, but her pajamas were the only unmodified piece of clothing she owned. Typical.

Once she was changed into another variation of her space suit, this one having flaring shoulder guards, she slipped on her yellow boots and headed off.  
____________________________________________________________  
Connie was not happy.

As familiar as she was the was with the hand ship there was one area of the ship that she was not familiar with. The prison bay. And for good reason. After the the corrupted gem incident she had been banned from the prison bay. And it was this unfortunate fact that led to Connie's current problem.

She was lost.

"I can't believe this," Connie sighed,"Maybe I should call for Pearl," Connie thought before quickly dismissing the idea. It would be incredibly embarrassing to have Pearl come get her. She wasn't five years old any more. If she was, she would have been caught by now, but luckily for her the cameras had malfunctioned a year or two ago and Peridot had neglected to fix them because the she believed that Connie was old enough roam the ship without constant supervision. Jasper didn't really agree with the idea, but Peridot said that Connie had earned a little trust.

Trust that she was breaking. She would totally be grounded for sneaking into the prison bay. Jasper would be furious.

Walking passed yet another set of empty cells the girl thought of how upset the gems would be if they found out she where she was. She was so invested in her thoughts, she walked passed the only occupied cell in the hall.

Then she froze. And walked backwards to the occupied cell. Just before she reached the containment field, she stopped. That nervousness from before started creeping up on her again. 

Gathering up her courage, the girl poked her head around the corner of the active cell.

There he was. 

The strange boy was fast asleep in the left corner of the cell. She took this time to get a good look at him.

The boy was stocky and had black hair. He was wearing blue jeans and a red T-shirt. He was also wearing a well-worn pair of sandals. His skin was a light peach color. That told Connie that the boy probably spent most of his time outside.

"Maybe he's from Beach City," Connie wondered out loud. Beach City was a little town in Delmarva. Jasper took bounties from other cities in the area to pay for Connie’s food and clothes and whatever else. Connie used to feel guilty about making Jasper leave so often, but the large gem assured her that she enjoyed her job, something about roughing up bad guys being cathartic. Jasper found Beach City on a job. Some teenage car thief had been driving cars he stole in drag races there. After catching the guy she decided grab Connie a treat from one of the pizzerias. It just so happened that Fish Stew Pizza made the best pizza ever, in Connie’s opinion, and so the Jasper and Peridot(and occasionally Pearl) would bring her Pizza from Fish Stew Pizza on special occasions like her birthday and sometimes to cheer her up when she was sad. Stars they were they were too good to her.

“And yet here I am breaking their trust…” Connie thought aloud She regretted speaking a moment later when the boy began to stir.

"Oh stars!" She squeaked timidly before quickly hiding to the left of the cell. She closed her eye and prayed the boy hadn't seen her. 

"Hello? Who's there? " a raspy voice asked. 

'Darn'

"Umm. I can see your foot..."  
The voice said.

Connie looked down and saw that the edge of her boot was poking around the corner of the wall.

'Double Darn' Connie sighed. She was nervous again. All the courage from earlier had evaporated. All that was left was anxiety. 

"Hi..."Connie spoke, not moving from her hiding spot. Though, she did move her foot out of view.

There was a beat.

"Hi.” The boy said, “You can come out. I'm not going to hurt you. It's not like I could even if I wanted to." He said in a soft tone. "Which I don't." He hurriedly added. 

Taking in his reassuring words Connie slowly stepped away from her cover. 

She turned to face the boy in the cell and was greeted with the sight of a blinding smile. And a bright yellow star at the center of his shirt.

"Hi. My name's Steven, Steven Universe." The boy greeted cheerfully. 

"Uhh... I'm Connie Maheswaren." Connie said.

"It's nice to meet you Connie." The ball of sunshine smiled. "Connie? If you don't mind me asking, where exactly am I?"

Connie didn't answer. She bowed her head to think. 'Should I even be talking to him?', she thought. 'Jasper wouldn't bring him here if he hadn't done something wrong, right?... Which means he's probably dangerous.’

She quickly glanced at the boy before averting her gaze once again. ' He looks like a normal human though. And way too young to be some kind of criminal. Plus, why would Jasper bring a criminal here?'. The girl began wracking her mind, trying to discern the reason for the boy's presence on the ship.

But her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

Eyes widening, the girl turned to the boy.

"I have to go.", She said in a panicked tone. Seeing the disconcerted look on the boys face, she quickly added. "But, I'll be back later."

That seemed to brighten the boys mood.

"Well, I'll be here." The boys said jokingly.

Connie giggled for a moment until she heard the grating sound of Jasper's laughter.

She took one last look at Steven and a thought came to mind. 

"I was never here." She said frantically before bolting in the opposite direction of her guardians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ____________________________________________________________
> 
> AND DONE! That was fun. That rhymed. Uh something else to say….
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed and feel free to comment and criticize. I can take it. Don’t worry I’m finishing up high school, my hopes and dreams have already been crushed.(Criticism ≠ Flames)
> 
> Also I am so very sorry about the late update. Ironically enough I had this chapter written and done with and then I read it again and couldn’t help myself.  
> Anyway. Until next time loves  
> Dorky is out!  
> ____________________________________________________________  
> Edited By Nichole Barbequisha  
> Next Chapter- October 20th or sooner.  
> Sorry. Crazy new schedule


	4. The Boy From Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper and Pearl talk with Steven.  
> Peridot shares upsetting news with Pearl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR THE WAIT.
> 
> ARE YOU READY KIDS!?
> 
> Yes?
> 
> GOOD! LLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET’S PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"And she started singing along to the song.", Pearl said with a soft giggle. "She knows it by heart."

To her left, Jasper was bent over holding her stomach as she laughed.

"Did she screech like a banshee when she found out she had been caught?"

"Worse. She chucked her limb enhancer across the room and started threatening to send me floating off into space if I told one of you." 

"Oh stars", Jasper said wheezing and wiping a tea from her eyes. "I can't believe she actually watches Crying Breakfast Friends."

"Yes, well funny as it is, you didn't hear it from me." Pearl said, an amused lilt in her voice. "I'd rather not wake up and find myself floating towards Jupiter."

"Oh no. I can't have that. Who would I dance with?" 

"I'm not the only dancer on the ship"

"No, but Peri would rather admit to watching that weird show than dance with me. And as much as she loves it, you know Connie would never dance if she knew anyone were watching her."

"Very true." Pearl said with a smile. She let out a yelp when Jasper suddenly scooped her up into her arms and spun her around sending the two into a fit of giggles.

"Besides", The quartz said as she brought them to a stop. "Neither of them could replace you, Pearl." Jasper gave the Gem a quick peck on the nose, which made the pearl giggle even more, before Jasper set her down.

"When did you become such a charmer?"

"When you finally started to notice." Jasper replied with a cheeky grin. As the two turned the corner, Pearl could have sworn she heard a voice coming from the captives corridor.

But one final turn later and her suspicions were quelled as she saw no one in the quiet corridor. 

Both Jasper and Pearl were at a loss when they reached the cell. Staring back at them was the child of Rose Quartz.

As the boy looked at them, Jasper couldn’t help but feel an old anger rise in her chest. She quickly crushed it reminding herself that this boy was by no means Rose Quartz and did not deserve her wrath. But that didn’t mean he deserved her compassion. So with that in mind Jasper crossed her arms and fixed an intimidating glare on the boy.

When the boy noticeably paled, Jasper felt an elbow burrow into her side. A sharp, bony, painful elbow. 

“Agh. Pearl!” the orange gem griped in pain. Whatever choice words that had been on the tip of Jasper’s tongue quickly retreated to the depths of her throat when she caught sight of the stern look Pearl was giving her. 

‘Oh crap.’ Jasper thought, as she recognized the look. That look was one that she and Peri affectionately called the ‘Mama Bear Stare’. She didn’t see the look often, as it usually showed up when Connie was in danger. That was all well and good, but Jasper had no clue why she was being subjected to such a crippling look now.

She got her answer when Pearl spoke.

“My name is Pearl. And this is my friend Jasper, she brought you here.” The yellow gem said in a motherly tone. Years of taking care of a child had taken it’s toll. Having taken care of Connie for so long it seemed that Pearl had developed a soft spot for children. “It is okay. We aren't here to hurt you. We only came to check on you.”

The boy visibly relaxed, though not by much, as Pearl spoke to him. His shoulders were still tense as he cautiously watched the gem pair.

Next to her, Jasper had taken a more lackadaisical posture. Her arms were still crossed; her glare had turned into more of a pout. She was leaning against the wall of the corridor and watched as Pearl knelt down and spoke to the boy. 

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions and I promise we will answer them, in time.” Pearl said. “But for now, what is your name?”

Her gentle tone had the desired effect, as the boy finally found his voice.

“Steven. Steven Universe.”

Pearl allowed herself to grin up at her still brooding partner. She got a wry smile back.

“Well, Steven it is a pleasure to meet you. I do wish that our meeting could be under different circumstances.” Pearl said with a more subdued grin that didn’t reach her guilty, yellow irises. Then again, that could have just been the yellow of his containment field.

“It’s okay. I’m sure you have a good reason.” Steven said. Scratching his head when he saw the relief flood Pearl’s face and heard the labored sigh that escaped Jasper’s lips.

“We do.” Jasper said in a soft tone. She did feel a little bad about knocking the runt out. She was glad it hadn’t seemed to leave a bruise.

There was a pause.

“You said your name is Pearl?”

“I did.” The yellow gem responded chuckling behind her hand.

“I know another Pearl.” Steven said excitedly. “And she’s a gem too!”

“Is that so.” Pearl said with a smug look. Not that Steven noticed.

“Yeah!” Steven continued bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Actually now that I think about it, you look just like her. You could be sisters.”  
Pearl snorted at that. 

Steven let out a small gasp before asking, “Are you sisters! Do gems have sisters?”

Pearl snickered a bit more. “No, Steven. Not traditionally anyway.”

“Awww.” 

And then a new voice filled the hall.

“Pearl.” Peridots voice sounded loudly over the intercom, making the skinny gem jump. “ I need you back in the lab.”

After that, Pearl and Jasper share a look before huddling near the end of the hall to have a hushed conversation.

“You can’t just leave me to look after the runt alone.” Jasper griped.

“You handle looking after Connie just fine, I think you can handle a boy in a cage.”

“What if he needs to use the bathroom.”

“...”

“Yeah. Didn’t think about that one did you.”

“Put him in a bag. Get in a pod and take him over to the base and use the bathroom there.”

“That’s a terrible idea. ”

“But the only one you have~”

“You're terrible.”

“I am aren’t I” Pearl finished smugly as she pulled away from Jasper. The look on Jasper's face told her that she was not amused. “Oh, don’t be like that. I’ll only be gone two or three hours.”

“Uuugh. Fine.”

Pearl smiled and gave Jasper a peck before going back to Steven. Though in the corner of her eyes, she caught the beginnings of a dopey smile on Jasper’s face.

“Steven, I need to leave for a couple of hours. I’ll be back soon though, okay?” She said, her motherly tone returning.

“Okay.”

With a smile and a nod Pearl gave Jasper one last peck on the cheek before heading off.

Which left Jasper with the runt.

The silence that befell the two was deafening.

Jasper didn’t know what to do or say. Luckily the runt seemed to be a mind reader.

“Soooo, are you a fusion?”

“What?” Jasper asked in a surprised tone. “What makes you think I’m a fusion?”

“Well, you're just so big!”

“Well, I am not a fusion. I’m just naturally big and strong”

“Really!”

“Yes.”

“That’s awesome! I’ve never met a gem so big before.” Steven said with stars in his eyes. She was definitely bigger than Garnet.

“Oh yeah?”, Jasper asked with a cocky grin before standing up straight to do a strong man pose. She was starting to think this would be easier than she thought.

There was another pause of silence.

“Jasper.”

“Yes, Steven?”

“I need to go to the bathroom.”  
____________________________________________________________  
Peridot didn’t look up from her desk monitor when Pearl entered the lab.

“How is he.”

“He is adjusting well. His name is Steven by the way.”

“Good.”

“He was a bit scared and reserved when we first arrived. But, he’s actually very sweet and excitable”

“Reminds you of Connie, doesn’t it.”

“Yeah. When we were first getting to know her.”

Peridot let out a hum of agreement, but didn’t say anything else for a while. Too busy thinking about the past; both gems were.

Learning how to raise a child had been… difficult for all of the gems. They had given up their old mindsets to better raise Connie. When Connie was a baby, the gems barely spent any time with her. They were either unsure what to do with her, or too busy mourning the loss of their diamond, or both, so Connie spent her first few years being looked after by her father. It wasn’t until Connie was almost four years old, after the gems and her father decided that it would be best for him to move back to Earth, that the gems noticed something was… off with Connie. 

She was quiet. Unnervingly so. She spent most of her time reading or staring out into space with dim lit eyes. When she did speak it was in a stuttery, but emotionless voice. She wasn’t anything like what a human child was supposed to be like(according to their research). 

They once found her playing with a mouse that must have made its way into one of the pods when Jasper had gone down to Earth. 

The gems had been working on ideas to destroy the cluster. They had completely forgotten that Connie was still on the ship and not in the base.   
When they finally did remember to go check on the girl, they were startled to find her sitting in the main hall of the ship torturing a small animal. She had crushed its tail under one of her books and was pushing a pencil through its abdomen despite the poor animal's cries. She had also managed to break one of its legs, destroy one of it’s eyes, and break a piece of her pencils lead off inside it’s ear. Luckily for the mouse, who would had apparently been named Mouse, Peridot was later able to give the rodent a cybernetic makeover. Said mouse would later be given to Connie as a pet for her birthday when it was clear that she was no longer… stabby.

When she was caught and the gems took the mouse away, started to reprimand and yell at her, and ask her questions, Connie started to cry. She had no idea why the gems were angry with her. She didn’t know what she had been doing to the mouse, she didn’t know she was killing it or that killing it was wrong. 

And why would she? It wasn’t like the gems had told her. Though, to be fair they never realized that they had too.

It was that incident that spurred the gems on to become more than just mediocre guardians. They realized that if they were going to take care of the girl, they needed to be much more than that. 

So Jasper became a provider. Not just in basic necessities, but in luxuries and fun. She started taking on more bounty hunter jobs on earth and may or may not have gotten a part-time job as an employee at a department store. At first the gem thought the jobs were tedious, but she soon lost that mindset when she brought Connie her first toy, a little stuffed giraffe. 

The reaction from the girl was nothing like the small smile and whisper that she thought she would get. And Jasper was definitely not prepare for the death grip of a hug she had gotten. And she certainly wasn’t prepared for the rush of emotions she felt when the girl looked up at her excitedly and thanked her.

After that, Jasper decided that she needed to feel that rush again and began to work twice as hard. It was tiring, and though she was the only one gems to begin sleeping excessively, to Jasper, it was all worth it when she saw her little gem smile.

Pearl became a nurturer. Which objectively was simple. She was used to serving others and taking care of their emotional needs. It’s what she was made for. Subjectively though, caring for Connie was a struggle for Pearl in the beginning. When they first began to really take care of Connie, it became clear that the girl shared many of her mother’s traits. The diamonds quick temper being the most prominent mentally. Aside from the girls overall temperament, there was also a physical trait that seemed shake Pearl to the core of her gem. 

The diamond shaped pupils surrounded by pools of yellow.  
If asked, the yellow gem would ashamedly admit that the eyes of her diamond terrified her. For the longest time, Pearl could never truly look the girl in the eyes. But as she grew closer and closer with the girl and said girl got older and older, those eyes were no longer the eyes of her diamond, but they eyes of her Little Diamond.

For Peridot it was different. When Connie was young, she didn’t really fall into a particular role in regards to the girl’s caretaking. As she watched Jasper and Pearl grow and change so drastically from what they once were, she couldn’t help but feel left behind. But that changed when Connie was eight years old. 

The silly girl had gone and wandered off into the prison bay and had gotten attacked by the corrupted gem Peridot had been studying. While the girl was unharmed, Peridot felt terrible. She couldn’t get over her guilt and stress, not until Connie came to her lab one day asking her about her research.

It became abundantly clear that the little diamond had a hunger for knowledge when she started asking Peri to tell her everything she knew about the Earth. So she did. She taught her about animals and geography and society and history. And every lesson seemed to bring the two closer. And that is when Peri figured out that she had changed too. 

She was the teacher. 

It was the combination of the three guardians’ efforts that transformed the shy, angry, confused(and possibly sociopathic) girl into the Connie they knew and loved.

Pearl shook her head clear of nostalgia. Peridot had called her for a reason, there was no time to daydream.

“So why did need me?”

Peridot didn’t answer immediately. She instead stared at her monitor, limb enhanced fingers running through her hair.

“The containment field.”

“It was working perfectly fine.”

“I meant the one for the cluster.” Peri said with a exhausted voice.

“Oh. What is wrong?” Pearl asked nervously.

“We can’t build it.”

“Yes, I know that is why we are getting help.”

“No, Pearl. I mean we won’t finish in time.”

“But I thought we were on schedule.” 

“We are. But there was a change. Tectonic plate movement that suggests violent tremors beneath the Earth's crust.”

“Shards.” Pearl cursed, briefly surprising Peri. “Then what do we do. Peri, we kidnapped that boy because we thought we would be able to finish the field with the Crystal gems’ help. Now there is no field and those gems are still coming.”

“I know. We need a new plan.”

“Peridot. We do have another plan.”

Peridot gave Pearl a crippling glare.

“No.”

“Peri. We don’t have any other choice. Not one that will save us in time.”

Peridot was silent. Then she violently tore her hand through the holographic screen of her monitor with a grunt of anger. Her breathing was heavy as she slid down in her chair. She put her head down.

“Damn.” 

“I’m sorry, Peri. I know you didn’t want this. But we have to.”

“...” Peridot let out a labored sob. Pearl was by her side in seconds. She placed comforting hand on the distressed gems. “We have to kill them. We have to destroy them.”

“They are already gone, Peri.”

“But they aren’t.”

Pearl knew about Peridot’s extensive research into gem shards and her help in creating the Cluster. Peridot had been strongly against destroying the Cluster because gem shards can retain pieces of a gems consciousness. 

Peridot already felt guilty for helping create the Cluster. The thought of destroying all those gems sickened her.

“Peridot, look at me”, Pearl said softly.

Slowly Peridot’s tear stained face rose to meet her yellow companions. A hand softly greeted her cheek and she leaned into it. Green eyes full of remorse stared back at yellow ones full of sympathy.

“We don’t have any other options and you did everything you could to keep it from coming to this.”

“I know.”

“We have to do this. For Connie.”

“I know.”

“Good.” Pearl ran her thumb across her friend’s cheek wiping away her tears.

They fell into a comfortable silence until Peridot spoke. 

“You need to go help Jasper.”

“Are you going to be okay alone?”

“Yes.”

“You are sure?” Pearl asked in a worried tone.  
“Positive.”

“Okay then. We should be back in time to have breakfast with Connie.”

Peridot smiled and nodded before turning back to her work.

Just before she left, Pearl glanced back at her friend.

“If we come back and you're watching Crying Breakfast Friends, I suppose we could give you a break in light of the circumstances.”

The grin that betrayed the glare Peridot sent her way made the wayward copy of the no home boys that she had to dodge worth it. 

Once Pearl was gone, Peri returned to her monitor. The picture of the cluster mid construction stared back at her.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nailed it. 
> 
> Conscience: You do realise you postponed this chapter just like you did the last one right?
> 
> ...stfu
> 
> Conscience: Just sayin..
> 
> Ugh! Pay them no mind. They're an idiot.
> 
> Conscience: You know, technically I am you
> 
> …  
> ANYWAY my terrible bit aside. I really am sorry I postponed for so long
> 
> Please forgive me.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed.
> 
> Feel free to review!
> 
> By y’all!!!  
> ____________________________________________________________  
> Edited by Nichole B.


	5. Chapter 5

Connie ran all the way back to the base with a ear splitting grin on her face; even when she tripped on her way back and bruised her shoulder.

When she finally made it to her room, she let out a squeal of pure excitement, that had Mouse, who had just come out of his hiding place under her bed, quickly scurrying back to safety, not that she noticed.

She had met her first human. Well, not including her dad.She spent a good three hours happily humming to herself and thinking of different questions she would ask the boy. And then another plotting.  
She had gotten lucky. Very lucky. If she was going to sneak into the prison bay again, she was going to do so with a game plan.

So she headed off to the bathroom. 

Not to bathe though. She found that she did her best thinking while she was sitting in the empty tub of her restroom with the curtain closed. She headed downstairs, passing multiple floors, including the kitchen and dining room floor. The bathroom was just above the main floor. 

Stopping on said floor, Connie pressed her hand to the wall in front of her and suddenly part of the wall slid to the left revealing a door. The room was circular, as all the rooms in the base were and had shiny grayish blue walls. Relative to the stairs was a large oval shaped lemon colored bathtub on the left side of the room. Next to it was a toilet that was a slightly duller shade of yellow. On the opposite side of the room was a large sink that had a holographic mirror floating against the wall that was behind it. The floor had been covered with baby blue tiles, courtesy of Pearl, and on the ceiling, also baby blue, was a yellow, box-shaped light.

Connie waste no time, hopping into the tub and pulling the yellow, diamond patterned curtain around the sides, effectively shutting the rest of the world out. She heard the door close behind her.

She had brought a notepad and pen with her and was clicking the pen over and over again. 

Just when the tip of the pen was to graze the paper. She heard the sound of the door opening again.

“Hurry up. And be as silent as possible. I will wait outside.” A voice grunted from behind the door.

‘Jasper?’ Connie thought to herself in confusion. The gems rarely checked on her during her designated resting period. 

“Yes, ma'am,” A smaller voice said.

‘Steven?’ What was he doing here with Jasper? Her question was answered with the sound of a zipper.

Connie quickly covered her ears, feeling infinitely uncomfortable listening to the boy use the bathroom.

She waited full minute before uncovering her ears. The sink was running. Good, now was her chance.

“Steven.” She hissed while peeking out from behind the shower curtain.  
She definitely didn’t enjoy watching the boy jump a foot into the air. Nope, not at all. Said proceeded to frantically search the room.  
Eventually, he found Connie and his frantic look turned to confusion.

“Connie!?”

“Shush!” Connie scolded while keeping an eye on the door. It stayed shut.“Sorry. We need to be quiet. Jasper can’t see me.” 

“Why?” 

“She just can’t okay? And you can’t tell her you saw me either,” Connie whispered.

The boy looked beside himself. She could tell he didn’t like lying. She didn’t exactly love it either. She quickly shook away the thought.

“I’m going to come see you again. Tomorrow.” She said quickly her eyes shifting to the door once more.

When she looked back to Steven she finally noticed that he had been staring at her. He had responded to her words but his attention was focused on something else.

“Why are you staring at me?”

Steven, having been caught, blushed and stuttered out an apology. 

“I’m sorry. It's just… I have never met someone with eyes like yours.”

‘Really?’ She thought to herself

“Oh.”

Connie looked at the door again before stepping out of the tub. She walked over to Steven and the sink and took a look in her mirror. And her hands balled into fist.

Yellow eyes. Diamond shaped pupils. Same as always. But not normal by any means. She knew that. She and Peridot had cover that sort of thing in her studies ages ago. She knew that normal humans didn’t have yellow eyes. Or diamond pupils. It had never been something that had bothered her before. She loved her eyes. 

So why did she suddenly wish they weren’t so… different.

“I guess they are a bit strange aren't they.” Forgetting to whisper. Though it barely mattered as her voice was so small that Steven could barely hear it.

“Well maybe a little. But then again Jasper’s eyes are orange, so it’s probably just a gem thing.”

That made Connie smile. At least he liked them. ‘At least other humans won’t think I am weird… ‘

Connie’s eyes widened as a thought crossed her mind. ‘ A gem thing? Steven thinks I’m a gem? How does he even know what a gem is?’

Three loud knocks on the door cut off her train of thought. She guessed she would just have to add that to her list of things to talk about.

“Hey, what’s the hold up. Ya fall in?” A muffled voice said from behind the door.

Connie gave Steven a look that said ‘We will talk later’ and prayed he understood before she rushed back to the tub and closed the shower curtain. 

And she did so just in time. She heard the door to the bathroom open and clunky footsteps that could only belong to Jasper.

“Are you done?” Jaspers gruff voice said.

“Y-yeah. All done, ready to go, nothing else to do in here,” Stevens words came out in a stuttering mess. Connie cringed behind the curtain. Luckily Jasper either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“Whatever, ya runt, let’s just get back down stairs. We can’t stay here long.” Jasper said in a nervous tone. 

“The bathroom?”

“Just come on.”

The bathroom door opened and closed.  
Connie let out a breath of relief. Now she had time to make a plan.  
____________________________________________________________  
Jasper was down on earth searching for a new edition to Unfamiliar Familiar. It had taken some crying and begging and subtle blackmailing, but Connie had gotten Jasper to go and get the book for her. Unfortunately for Jasper it didn’t exist.

Pearl was busy cleaning up the ridiculous mess that had been made in Connie’s bathroom. Pearl had been very confused and upset when she saw the condition of the room. Unused nail polish bottles had been shattered on the floor, there was water covering half of the floor from the overflowing toilet and against all odds, there was a large crack running across the length of the holographic mirror. Connie knew for a fact that it would take the gem forever just to clean the nail polish from the ground.

And Peridot was occupied with Mouse, who was ‘sick’. In reality, the hyper intelligent pet was playing opossum. It had taken the promise of a weeks worth of marshmallows to get the jerky little mouse to do what she wanted. A whole week’s worth.

‘You cripple a creature one time and suddenly you owe them forever.’

But it was worth it if it kept Peridot busy. Peri had been reluctant at first claiming that she had more important things to do. Then again Peridot had never been able to stand the sight of Connie crying.

Connie had been sure to tell Peri that she would be reading in her room and then promptly went back to her room and ‘locked’ the door(Pulled her bed over the entrance.)

Her plan was simple. She would keep the gems occupied. It had taken her some time to think of a distraction for each gem, tasks that would keep them busy for long periods of time. But eventually she did. 

And now she stood in the hallway that lead to Steven’s cell with a tablet Jasper had bought her. Said tablet held every single question Connie wanted to ask Steven. The tablet also had an alarm on it that had been set to go off in one hour. One hour. She had one hour.

She was nervous again. But she had a limited amount of time. With that thought in mind, she pushed herself forward until she stood directly in front of the boy’s prison.

To her surprise, the boy was asleep. Sprawled out on his back, snoring softly. 

‘Awww.’ Connie couldn’t help but smile at the sight. The boy must have been extremely tired. And who could blame the little human? He had been abducted by aliens for crying out loud. He had done a good job of being nonchalant about the whole thing, but Connie had a feeling that everything was taking a toll on the boy.

Still, as much as she didn’t like the idea of waking the boy from his peaceful slumber, she didn’t really have much of a choice. There was no way she would be able to distract the gems like this again. Not without them being suspicious.

“Steven..” The girl hissed.

He didn’t move.

“Steven.” 

Nothing.

“Steven.” She said as loudly as she dared. She was paranoid.

But Steven hadn’t even moved.

Connie let out a heavy sigh before her eyes shifted over to the panel on the right side of the cell. She was slightly hesitant as she walked over and disarmed the containment field that held the boy hostage. Then, she was at the boy’s side trying to wake him.

“Steven. Wake. Up!” She grunted as she shook his shoulder

His peaceful expression shifted to one of annoyance. 

“Amethyst… I need sleep… I’ll come play Dumb police with you later..”

Confusion ran across Connie’s face, and she briefly wonder who this Amethyst person was before shaking it from her mind.  
“Steven! Wake! Up!” She screamed into the boys face.

The boy’s head jolted forward violently and bashed against Connie’s nose. She let out a yelp and stumbled back from Steven, hitting the cell wall. She dropped her tablet and was clutching her nose with both hands. Across from her Steven let out a low groan as he rubbed a red spot on forehead.

“Amethyst, that really….” Steven started as he looked up. He smiled when he saw Connie. “Oh… right, still in space.”

“Yup, still in space.” Connie remarked in a bitter voice. 

Steven’s smile disappeared when he noticed her clutching her nose. He was on his feet before she could blink.

“Are you alright?” He asked. His worry was genuine. Connie could tell. For some reason, she felt her cheeks warm. 

“Yeah. I’m fine.” She said waving him off. “Sorry about the rude awakening. You are a heavy sleeper.”

This time Steven’s cheek were the ones burning. He let out a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.  
“Sorry..”

They sat in silence. Connie was a bit too embarrassed to speak and she had a feeling that Steven was too. They busied themselves with self contained games of ‘I Spy’ trying their best not to look at one another.

It wasn’t until Connie’s eyes landed on her tablet that she remember why she had come in the first place.

She pushed from the wall, grabbed her tablet and sat herself down in front of Steven, who watched her with a look of curiosity.

“I wrote down a bunch of questions that I wanted to ask you.” She explained. 

“Oh. That’s cool. What did you want to know,” Steven said with a grin. He more than happy to forget what had just happened.

Connie started asking question after question, all of which Steven answered, or tried to answer with gusto. She asked what the earth was like. What it was like to see the seasons go by. Once he let on that he lived on the beach, Connie’s questions only intensified. Her tablet lay forgotten next to her as she began to ask any questions that came to mind. And suddenly, Steven was explaining what sand felt like and what swimming was like and why Seagulls were evil. He told her about thunderstorms and how thunder wasn’t just loud, but powerful, and how lighting looked almost beautiful from a distance. He told her as much as he could about whatever she asked. But, whenever he couldn’t answer he saw a bit of disappointment flash across her face. Like he was the only person who could possibly tell her about these  
things. Like this was her only chance to get answers.

It was when she started to ask him what the sunset looked like and what day and night were like and what wind felt like that Steven decided to ask a question of his own.

“Connie.” He cut her off and she began to wonder about the difference between an ocean breeze and a regular one.

“- Yes?” She asked him with a bright smile on her face. This was the happiest he had seen her look since he had met her. Granted that wasn’t very long ago, but it still made the boy smile.

“Connie… you have never been to earth, have you?” He had had his suspicions and they were confirmed when the grin on Connie’s face dropped.

“No. I haven’t.”

“I’m sorry. I should have guessed. Garnet is always saying that we are the only gems on earth.”

Connie stared at him, confused.

“Who is Garnet?”

“Oh she is… well… hmmm. She’s the leader of the Crystal Gems.”

“Is that like a band name or something?” Connie asked confused.

“A band? No, no. We’re like… We’re magic and we fight monsters and protect humanity and stuff.”

“Magic? Are you making this up?” Connie stood and adjusted her glasses as she looked down at him.

“What? No, I’m not making it up!” Steven was standing now too. And he seemed a little annoyed and confused.

“So you're telling me that you're magic,” Connie said her voice saturated with disbelief.

“Half magic. On my mom’s side.”

Connie’s stared at him. The doubt was clear in her eyes.

“Prove it.”

Steven’s eyes widened and he let out a huff. His hand ran through his hair as he tried to think of how he could prove to her that he was magical.  
He grinned when he found the answer and promptly lifted the hem of his shirt. 

Connie could only stare for what felt like forever.

Sitting comfortably where boys belly button should have been… was a pink gem.

A rose quartz gem to be exact. 

“A gem…”

“Yup, it was my mom’s but when she gave up her physical form to bring me into the world.”

“She… you…” Connie couldn’t speak. She backed away her back once again hitting the cell wall. She clutched her hair as her head spun and swirled with the words he had just said.

“Connie… are you…okay?” Steven placed his hand on her shoulder. She  
looked up at him. 

He had a gem. Steven was a gem. No. That wasn’t right. Gems don’t get knocked out, they poofed. Gems didn’t get red marks on their skin when they got hurt. Blood didn’t rush to a gems cheeks when they were embarrassed… but humans did. So Steven had to be human…  
Unless.

“Steven… your mother was a gem.” she asked a she lifted his shirt and inspected the gem.

Steven didn’t seem to mind her curiosity.

“Exactly! Her name was Rose Quartz.”

His mother was a gem.

“Your father is human.”

“Yeah.” He said nonchalantly. Like the words didn’t confirm what reality shattering truth that he just presented her with.

Steven Universe was a human-Gem hybrid. And as far as she knew, the boy in front of her was the only other person like herself in the universe. 

His words continued to run through her mind as she stared at him. She was scared. The boy was no longer just a human from earth. Her desire for him to like her had just grew significantly. But she wouldn’t let that stop her from saying what she needed to.

“You're just like me.”

“What…?”

“I mean my mom gave up her physical form to make me too! And my dad is human!”

“Whaaaaaat!” Steven exclaimed his voice was a mix between disbelief and shock. Then his demeanor changed to pure excitement. His eyes were alight like mini stars were trapped inside and his face sprouted a grin that could have been mistaken for the sun. His entire body seemed to vibrate in place and he looked like he was trying decide if it was appropriate to hug her.  
Connie decided for him.

She crashed into him with the force of a truck. But he didn’t budge as she held him in a death grip.

It took a while for Connie to realize that Steven was crying. She could feel tears running down the neck of her suit. Then she notice that she was crying too.

They released each other and an began to dry their tears. Then Steven spoke.

“This is amazing! The gems will freak when they hear about this." 

“This changes everything. I’m not the only one anymore.”

Connie was elated. She wasn’t alone anymore.  
She was about to speak again, when the entire ship lurched and a loud boom emanated through the ship. They could hear the entire ship groan as it did.  
Connie braced herself against the wall while Steven wobbled and struggled to stay standing.

“What was that.” Steven said looking around in awe.

“It sounded like an explosion.” Connie said. She left the cell and looked down the hall. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Steven smiling at her.

“Wanna go check it out?”

Connie frowned. “You should stay here. If Jasper, Peridot or Pearl see you there will be trouble.”

“I can’t let you run off into danger by yourself. I can help. I’m a Crystal Gem remember? I deal with sort of thing all the time.”

“All the time?” Connie asked skeptically.

Steven blushed and rubbed his neck again.

“Some of the time…”

Connie chuckled. She thought about Steven’s offer. She wasn’t exactly eager to go running of into the great unknown by herself. A screaming corrupted gem flashed through her memory.

No she definitely didn’t want to go alone. But the gems could be hurt or in danger she couldn’t just stay put.

That thought in mind she turned back to Steven.  
“You're sure you wanna come?”

“Positive.” He said with a determined smile. He then offered his hand.  
Connie grinned. “Okay.”

The two hybrids ran down the hallway. On their way to yet another encounter that would change everything.


End file.
